Riyaaz Qawwali

Riyaaz Qawwali represents the unique diversity and plurality of South Asia. The ensemble’s musicians, who are settled in the U.S., hail from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and sing devotional music. While they are ethnically diverse, they also represent multiple spiritual backgrounds, which they incorporate into their music. Trained in both Eastern and Western classical music, the musicians have been professionally performing qawwali for the past ten years. With conservative growth and heightened attention to quality, Riyaaz Qawwali has now released two albums and been featured on NPR and Huffington Post.

Riyaaz Qawwali’s mission is to expose new audiences to qawwali, while still paying homage to the tradition that has existed for 700+ years. The ensemble wants to expand the reach of the genre to new stages and people of other faiths and traditions. The founding members of Riyaaz Qawwali chose the qawwali genre of music because it is home to unique musical elements not found in any other form of South Asian music. Riyaaz Qawwali combines this with poetry from famous South Asian poets of multiple linguistic and religious backgrounds to create a universal message of oneness (Riyaaz Qawwali incorporates works from poetic giants like Mirza Ghalib, Amir Khusrow, Bulleh Shah, Mir Taqi Mir, Sant Kabir and Guru Nanak, and in doing so, hopes to expose these poets’ works to new audiences and younger generations). Riyaaz Qawwali also uses numerous languages including Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Gujarati, and Hindi to represent the linguistic and cultural diversity that exists in South Asia.

Riyaaz Qawwali represents the unique diversity and plurality of South Asia. The ensemble’s musicians, who are settled in the U.S., hail from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and sing devotional music. While they are ethnically diverse, they also represent multiple spiritual backgrounds, which they incorporate into their music. Trained in both Eastern and Western classical music, the musicians have been professionally performing qawwali for the past ten years. With conservative growth and heightened attention to quality, Riyaaz Qawwali has now released two albums and been featured on NPR and Huffington Post.

Riyaaz Qawwali’s mission is to expose new audiences to qawwali, while still paying homage to the tradition that has existed for 700+ years. The ensemble wants to expand the reach of the genre to new stages and people of other faiths and traditions. The founding members of Riyaaz Qawwali chose the qawwali genre of music because it is home to unique musical elements not found in any other form of South Asian music. Riyaaz Qawwali combines this with poetry from famous South Asian poets of multiple linguistic and religious backgrounds to create a universal message of oneness (Riyaaz Qawwali incorporates works from poetic giants like Mirza Ghalib, Amir Khusrow, Bulleh Shah, Mir Taqi Mir, Sant Kabir and Guru Nanak, and in doing so, hopes to expose these poets’ works to new audiences and younger generations). Riyaaz Qawwali also uses numerous languages including Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Gujarati, and Hindi to represent the linguistic and cultural diversity that exists in South Asia.